Lilly Ritz was named the Coach Ed DiGregorio Most Valuable Player of the 2022-23 Youngstown State women's basketball team, Penguins head coach John Barnes announced.
Ritz was also named the team's Defensive Player of the Year as part of the program's postseason awards. Megan Callahan was tabbed the Penguins' Most-Improved Player, and Dena Jarrells was named the Newcomer of the Year.
Ritz, a senior on the Penguins' 2022-23 team, was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year and All-League First Team in a vote of the conference's coaches. She went on to earn Mid-Major Honorable Mention All-America distinction by the World Exposure Report. She ranked in the top 10 in the country in double-doubles, rebounds per game and field-goal percentage. She led the Horizon League in those three categories, and she also ranked third in scoring (17.4 ppg), second in steals (1.83) and third in blocks (1.23 bpg). In league games, she led the circuit in rebounding (11.5) and field-goal percentage (.590) while ranking second in scoring (17.1) and blocks (1.5).
In just two seasons as a Penguin as a transfer from Division II Wheeling, Ritz scored 978 points and grabbed 595 rebounds for averages of 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. She is one of just two YSU players to be named to the All-Horizon League First Team twice since the school joined the conference in 2001-02. Her 595 rebounds were the third-highest total over consecutive seasons in school history, and her 978 points were the seventh-most. She broke YSU's school records for single-season field-goal percentage and career field-goal percentage.
Callahan had the best season of her career in her sixth season playing at the Division I level. A Third-Team All-Horizon League selection by the conference's head coaches, Callahan averaged a career-best of 10.7 points per game, which ranked 18th in the league, while shooting a career-high 43% from the field. She made 59 3-pointers and ranked fifth in the circuit with 1.97 3-pointers per game, and she shot 41% from beyond the arc.
Compared with 2021-22, Callahan averaged 4.0 more points, 0.8 more rebounds and 0.3 more assists per contest as she started all 30 games and led the program in 3-pointers and ranked second in scoring. She shot 9.8% better from beyond the arc and 11.9% higher overall from the field.
Jarrells led the Penguins and ranked third in the Horizon League with 3.9 assists per game in 2022-23. A transfer guard from Chattanooga, she improved her average to 4.1 per contest in conference play, which was the second-best mark in the league. She also ranked third in the Horizon League with a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio. Jarrells started 17 of the final 18 games of the season, and she scored and had multiple assists in the final 24 games of the campaign. She averaged 7.1 points overall for the season and 7.9 points as a starter.
